Trump 'discovered a simple trick' to 'fudge the data': ex-RNC chair

21 August

Former Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Steele on January 18, 2023 (Maryland Governors/Flickr)

President Donald Trump is making a concerted effort to purge the United States' federal government of officials who offer facts, figures or data he doesn't like.

Trump is calling for Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and Fed governor Lisa Cook to lose their jobs, and he fired former U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Commissioner Erika McEntarfer in response to a negative jobs report. Moreover, Trump is demanding a new mid-decade U.S. Census even though the next one isn't due until 2030.

In a biting op-ed published by MSNBC's website on August 21, former Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Steele warns that Trump's war on data risks undermining the U.S. governor's reputation as a provider of accurate facts and figures.

"We are now heading into the fall of 2025 with a strange sensation: The numbers we once relied on no longer hold," Steele explains. "When D.C.'s crime numbers don’t justify a federal takeover? Ignore them. When a weak jobs report spoils the narrative? Fire the Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner. When the Census counts undocumented immigrants? Exclude them."

Steele continues, "Trump has discovered a simple trick: If he doesn't like the number, he changes it.… Of course, that's not how it works. Reality doesn't bend to satisfy a wannabe tyrant's ego. A poll stacked with supporters doesn't reflect real public opinion, and unemployed workers don't just disappear because you fudged the data."

Pressuring the BLS and the U.S. Census Bureau to only offer data Trump likes, according to Steele, seriously hurts their credibility.

"For generations, federal statistics have been the compass by which Americans navigated storms, both literal and political," Steele explains. "Data is the lifeblood of the federal government. The Bureau of Labor Statistics tells us whether the economy is growing or shrinking. The Census Bureau counts the population that determines political power and federal funding. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tracks outbreaks and mortality rates, while the Environmental Protection Agency measures the pollutants in the air we breathe and the water we drink."

The Never Trump conservative continues, "If we cannot trust Washingtons numbers, someone else will have to step up…. It may fall to governors, universities, nonprofits and private firms to provide the public square with reliable information until the federal government can once again be trusted. Nonprofits and media organizations can assemble and share this information in ways the public can trust…. Because without reliable numbers, we cannot even begin the work of understanding our problems, let alone solving them."

Michael Steele's full op-ed for MSNBC is available at this link.

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